Principal Abbreviations

Part One. The Dynamic of Hope

1. The Christian Virtue of Hope and the Epistemological Underpinnings of Christian Eschatology

Christianity, like Judaism, is the religion of God’s promise. God, in creating
the world and saving humanity, did not leave everything neatly and accurately
arranged from the outset. His creating action marks the beginning of time. And
time opens space for further progress: space for God, who continues to act, to
create, to save, ...

Part Two. The Object of Christian Hope

The Apostles’ Creed openly proclaims that Jesus Christ “will return
to judge the living and the dead.”1 And the Nicea-Constantinople Creed
says more or less the same thing: “he will come again in glory to judge
the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.”2...

2. Parousia: The Future Coming of the Lord Jesus in Glory

The future coming of Jesus Christ in glory is generally called the Parousia (a
Greek term derived from the verb pareimi, “to be present”).2 The term Parousia is to be found in many books of the New Testament that refer explicitly to the
future coming of Christ at the end of time.3 ...

3. The Resurrection of the Dead

Belief in the resurrection of the dead by the power of God is deeply rooted in
the Old Testament and is central to Christian faith3 Tertullian went so far as to
say that “the hope of Christians is the resurrection of the dead.”4 And this is so
for the simple reason that the final resurrection of humanity is the ultimate fruit
of the resurrection of Christ ...

4. The New Heavens and the New Earth

In direct continuity with the doctrine of final resurrection, the return of the
risen Lord Jesus Christ in glory (what is called the Parousia) will involve not only
the universal resurrection and judgment of humans, but also the destruction,
purification, and renewal of the material cosmos, what Scripture calls the new
creation (Mt 19:28; Rom 8:18–25; Gal 6:15). ...

5. Final Judgment

Christian faith openly proclaims that when Jesus comes in glory at the end
of time, not only will the dead rise up by the power of God in the likeness of the
risen Christ, not only will the cosmos be renewed, but the whole of humanity will
be judged by the Lord of heaven and earth. ...

6. Heaven: Eternal Life in the Glory of Christ

The outcome of final judgment is unequivocal: eternal life or eternal perdition.
The promise made by God through his Son is equally clear: those who follow
and believe in him receive the promise of eternal communion with the Trinity;
those who do not believe will forfeit the divine promise. ...

7. Hell: The Perpetual Retribution of the Sinner

The possibility of perpetual condemnation of the unrepentant sinner is a
nonnegotiable element of the doctrinal patrimony of Christian faith. This does
not mean of course that Christians “believe” as such in hell. Much less are they
obliged to believe that some specific individuals have actually been condemned, ...

Part Three. The Stimulus of Hope in the World

8. The Living Presence of the Parousia

As we saw earlier on, the moment when the Parousia takes place will depend,
to some degree, on humans’ correspondence (or lack of it) to God’s gifts and inspiration.3 In Matthew 23:39 we read: “For I tell you, you will not see me again
until you say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” ...

Part Four. Honing and Purifying Christian Hope

9. Death, the End of the Human Pilgrimage

Death will come eventually, and it will come for everybody. Seneca confirms
this common conviction and declares that there is nothing more certain
than death.5 Yet death, as it presents itself to humans, constitutes a profound
enigma. ...

10. Purgatory: The Purification of the Elect

“Purgatory” designates that state of definitive purification, after death, for
those who have died in friendship with God but are stained by the remains of
sin. “All who die in God’s grace and friendship,” says the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, “but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their salvation; ...

11. The Implications of an “Intermediate Eschatology”

For an extended period of time, it is fair to say, Catholic eschatology paid
more attention to the “last things” of the individual: death, personal judgment,
heaven or hell, beatific vision, personal purification, and so on.2 It is not of
course that other critical elements were excluded. ...

Part Five. The Power and Light of Hope

12. The Central Role of Christian Eschatology in Theology

The Greek word eschaton originally meant “end,” maybe even “dregs,” in
the most abject sense of the term, equivalent perhaps in Greek to peras. Under
the saving power of Christ and the impulse of hope, Christianity radically transformed
the term’s meaning into “goal” (closer to the Greek telos), that is, ultimate
purpose, target, summit, or plenitude. ...

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